Control

2.5.1 Introduction

This process group’s task is to complete project activities, measure progress toward project objectives, and take corrective action when necessary to bring the project back within the stated goals and objectives. Controlling also involves updating the required project documents to make sure they contain accurate information. These updates include adjusting the project plans accordingly

Since control requires knowledge of the project status, the project manager and the team must continually monitor the project. Comparing the project’s progress to the original plan enables a project manager to identify deviations from the plan and take corrective actions to put the project back on plan. The control system should provide methods on how to evaluate the benefits, how to communicate changes to the necessary people and how to monitor the implementation of changes.

The first factor in any project management scenario is the issue of control. In project management this word is used in two ways. Control yourself through exercising restraint and directing influence over the project control, and the control of tool, technique or artistic medium to help you maintain your authority over the project. Controlling tasks and their successful completion is the foundation for effective project and outcomes.

Setting up controls should be part of the project plan and should have a great deal of transparency. Control set levels in place for quality, materials and cost estimates versus actual cost, time frame and standards; each should be clear to those involved. It is your role as project manager to construct this framework for management and control.

2.5.2 Controlling projects is about ensuring that the project objectives are met;

specifically those objectives of:

 Cost.

 Time.

 Quality.

 Progress report.

2.5.2.1 Costs

During the planning phase of the project, cost is one element that affects many others.

Because cost has many characteristics and variables, it is important to ensure they are clearly understood before adding cost controls into the project. Some variables on cost that need to be tracked are:

 Fixed costs (labour and materials).

 Variable cost (labour and materials).

 Time-sensitive costs (weather conditions, delivery, other dependencies).

 Unexpected costs and variables.

Wherever possible, highlight the ones moving out of control and ensure that suppliers and vendors maintain “not-to-exceed” limits. That is even more important if this is the first project experience with a particular supplier. Payment schedules are important to adhere to, especially if a payment is dependent on reaching a milestone.

Brown, (1992: 64) indicates that control over costs is an area which is often neglected by project managers, particularly on projects where the only costs are staff costs and these are to a certain extent outside of the control of the project. However, by managing costs, the project manager will glean vital information about the progress and the value of the work done. Costs can be used as a measure of progress.

From planning exercises, the resource profiles should be determined and give a clear picture of how much the project will cost over time. Other costs, such as for the acquisition of equipment, are usually fairly fixed. The degree of sophistication applied to the control of costs varies according to the type and size of the project; it can be a simple measurement of the number of people working on it, to complex accounting and control systems. Some planning tools will go a long way to deriving statistics, but you should always remember that the quality of what you get out is directly proportional to the quality of what you put in.

2.5.2.2 Time frames

Another fundamental element in maintaining control of a project is managing time frames. While cost is one part of the time frame equation, there are others as well. These include:

 Meeting the deadline.

 Staying on time within the budget.

 Watching time dependencies.

The most obvious time frame to manage is the deadline. The deadline can be created to coincide with a milestone or deliverable. While this may seem a good practice, it does in fact cause some problems. This is because the deadline is at the end of the milestone, so it is not often reviewed until that milestone is almost due or has passed.

Time frames have to be dissected into manageable pieces to be controlled. For example, a certain milestone is the delivery of the specification document on a certain date. In order for this to be completed there are variety of tasks in the process of creating the specification document. By looking at the project as separate, timed elements leading up to deadlines and milestones, it becomes easier to stay in control. By identifying where inexperienced staff or insufficient resources may cause delays, you can then factor in extra time to effect a recovery operation.

Another problem with staying on time is the budget issue. The old “time is money”

maxim is unfortunately true. The effect on budget can be huge when milestones or deadlines dependent on each other are missed. When projects are people dependent, resources are often scheduled weeks and months in advance. Development means having to work on tight deadlines such as race teams preparing for an upcoming season.

Poor planning and missed deadlines in execution can make a huge difference in the ensuing year. The manufactures have to stay on track and meet the deadline with a product meeting stringent requirements. Another element with time worth flagging is the deadline with dependencies. Rather like a family with children, there is just more to worry about. Keeping them healthy, getting them to school, and feeding and clothing them make them dependent on you as parents. The same applies to your project; it has deadlines and milestones that are also dependent and, therefore, require managing more carefully.

2.5.2.3 Quality

Standards quality and quality control remains a difficult item for many to quantify when controlling a project. Some questions have to be answered, and hopefully, will have been integrated into the plan.

 How much quality can be afforded?

 What is the impact of low quality?

 Can you communicate these quality standards and requirements to your suppliers and vendors?

These standards may already be well defined, and control points added into the project.

Unfortunately, there is always some subjectivity to quality standards, and often some people do not understand them well. For example, the difference in how much effort should be expended in matters of style in a project versus other projects may be difficult to comprehend. Style has a huge impact on almost all aspects of products or services;

from restaurants, clothes, automobiles, and housing. Because quality standards can vary,

it is vital to you, as a project manager, that the participants in the project know what is required with regards to resources and guidelines to ensure that they meet your standards.

While industrial standards provide one metric to consider, they are usually too broad for decision-making and management in a specific project. Quality standards applied to an external outbuilding or garage might be very different from those of a heated and cooled living area added to the house or apartment.

Brown, (1992: 65) indicates that unlike time and cost, there are units of measurement such as days and rands, the yardstick by which you measure quality is not so easy to determine. Because it is difficult, it is often neglected. The setting of quality standards involves having a clear specification of what the end product of the task should be, including whatever quality factors may be appropriate. Views of quality in projects are considered by reliability, durability, accuracy, clarity and functionality.

Quality control is an important aspect during manufacturing processes, but a pre- requisite for it is quality assurance and establishing the right environment for quality to flourish. Quality should be injected into the process from the outset. A common way of doing this is to develop a quality plan, which expresses your objectives for quality and how you will set about ensuring it.

The quality plan includes:

 Define working methods and procedures.

 Define standards for deliverables.

 Define standards for supervision and review.

 Define project checklist.

 Define user involvement.

A commitment to quality from the project team is vital to achieving it. It should be inculcated amongst the staff as being an essential, not a luxury, and ingrained in the

FitzGerald, (1922: 96) states that for project milestones, guidelines that incorporate satisfactory standards that need following should be made clear. Sometimes this is obvious and at other times less so. For example, wood sap seeing through fresh paint on a new house might indicate that it was not sealed or primed properly, and a visual-quality check makes it clear the subcontractor has some extra work to clear up. However, other areas such as external woodwork may never come to light.

The only way to ensure that these are being done to your standards is to agree on them up front and then have a monitoring means to check whether the material requested was up to standard. Inserting quality checkpoints along the way in your project plan is one way to keep these issues in check and under control. Lipner, (2003: 104) indicates that because quality standards can vary, it is vital that you, as a project manager, are sure that the participants in the project know what is required and have the budget, resources and guidelines to ensure that it is going to meet your standards.

2.5.2.4 Progress Reporting

Monitoring of time, cost and quality requires the project manager to have detailed knowledge of the status of the entire task currently being executed. There are a number of ways in which this information can be gathered. The progress reporting consists of the following:

 Progress reports.

 One-to-one progress meetings.

 Group/project progress meetings.

2.5.2.4.1 Progress Report

The production of progress reports should be carried out on a strictly regular basis by all those who are responsible for any planned activity. If this means that every single member of the staff reports on progress, then so be it. The project manager does not necessary have to read them all; they can be summarized by team leaders, junior

managers and so on, to give overall progress reports for activities higher up the hierarchy on the project.

Progress reports should, therefore, be as easy to complete as possible, which also helps you having to read them. A standardized form which shows the work done in a period, deviations from the plan and work for the next period. Progress reporting is not, however, all one way. The project manager will be expected to report to a number of other people/bodies, including the sponsor. Like all reports, the frequency, style, amount of detail, and actual content will be varied to suit the particular audience. One of the key roles of the project manager as a communicator is to maintain commitment to the project;

it is often a good idea to give some of these reports in the form of presentation.

2.5.2.4.2 One-to-one progress meetings

Meetings with individual members of the project team, although time-consuming, are probably the best means of assessing progress. It is important, however, that these meetings are well structured and reasonably formalized. The purpose of the meeting is to assess progress and discuss any problems; it is not to have a generalized chat about how things are going. The best vehicle for structuring the meeting is the progress report. Each activity on it should be discussed, even if there are no problems associated with it.

Adopting the right style for the meetings is crucial to their effectiveness. There should be no atmosphere of blame or recrimination. The staff should be encouraged to approach the meetings with an honest and open attitude and not in fear that they are to be hauled over the coals. Praise should be lavished generously when things have gone well.

One-to-one meetings are also the best opportunity for the project manager to inspect quality personally. A golden rule of project monitoring is “Everyone will lie to you”. This may sound a little harsh on your trusted team, but it is not a bad position from which to start.

2.5.2.4.3 Group/project progress meetings

Meetings of the entire project team are useful, but need to be carefully managed. Their primarily purpose is to ensure that all parts of the project are aware of what other parts are doing, and any issues that have arisen.

While it is important that a team spirit is fostered, you should always be aware that people would show greater reluctance to disclose problems in their own areas in a large group. If there are problems to be discussed at this level, then these should have been identified and corrective action agreed between the relevant parties and project manager before the meeting.

The management style taken on a project has more bearing on its success than might be first thought. Emerson (2006: 96) states that many jokes about various stages of a project from punishing the innocent to the undeserving all have truth hidden in the humour. The individual management style is something that emerges and changes over time. Every experience enhances knowledge, both good and bad. Considering each project a learning event is a good way to look at it. However, do not take reaching goals and objectives lightly. As an assigned project manager, you will get the credit or the blame, depending on the results. Reducing risk by using best practices is one way to supplement learning the hard way; that comes through experience alone.

There are always cases in life where the individuals responsible do not always get their just desserts. In the long run, however, those with good morals, a work ethic, and fair management approaches will prevail. While team members may emerge unscathed from a difficult project, they are more willing to work with those who treat them and others fairly. Rand (2005: 88) warns to be aware of the project managers who talk only about protecting their team and “screwing” the other partners in the process. As a project manager you must ensure that you have an up-to-date picture of the status of the project available to you at all times. That way you can keep your pulse on things before they get out of control.

Cunningham (2006: 104) indicates that all people posses some skills and characteristics that will help them to become more effective project managers. It does seem, however, that some are just natural-born “project managers”. The good news for the mix of skills and methods needed for successful project management all people have some of them.

Each skill has three characteristics: the skill itself, your competency level, and your personal experience. Always begin by outlining the skills that are important to becoming an effective project manager and what can be done to start using and improving them.

2.5.3 Skills and qualities of the project manager:

 Motivation.

 Personal characteristics.

 Confidence.

 Communication.

 Collaboration.

 Attitudes.

 Final report.

2.5.3.1 Motivation

No matter how well-planned and organized a project may be, its chances of success without the commitment of the project team are limited. It is largely up to the project manager to ensure that the project enjoys a culture and an atmosphere, which are conducive to achieving the project objectives. When you look for people on the team you will naturally look for people who are dynamic, committed, responsible, forward thinking, highly skilled, and good team players.

All admirable qualities, certainly, require nurturing by the project manager. It may sound trite to say that a happy project team will result in a successful project. But you must, nonetheless, try to ensure that the project team actually must to do the work and,

2.5.3.2 Personal Characteristics.

Personal characteristics are an important starting point for improving project management skills. Starting with organizational skill, individuals who are effective at laying out a beginning, middle and end to a project plan already have a significant advantage. Their organizational skills reflect the mind-set required for the first phase of initiating any project. A tendency for people with excellent organizational skills is then to move on to important issues, such as making sure they have the tool and materials to do the work.

They also use useful questions such as:

 Do you have access to the research required for the project?

 Do you need assistance to complete the work?

 Are resources to do the job available?

The bottom line is that powerful organizational skills provide significant advantage in early project management experiences. Fortunately, those not blessed with these skills at birth can learn them.

2.5.3.3 Confidence

Cunningham (2006: 08) states that, regardless of where you, the skills you already have can leverage your personal characteristics, giving you the confidence to create great outcomes for all your projects. Regardless of the size of the project being planned, being comfortable with your own capabilities and the skills of others in the project has a direct influence on the results. Having attained the goal before and assembling a team with the desire to succeed and prior experiences will reduce the risk dramatically. Part of the confidence that you have in yourself is directly related to the selection of those on your team and their potential, their previous results and their ability to work with you. This confidence can cause a working relationship to last a lifetime.

2.5.3.4 Communication

Communication skills are one of the most important elements in any project or in life for that matter. One individual is a highly successful communicator creating more valuable project outcomes versus others who are not. Therefore, determining how to communicate with individuals on your team and taking an inventory of personal communication skills are crucial. Consistent, high quality communication to your team will make a huge difference. It is worthwhile reviewing how others view you personally from a communication perspective. Do they see you as the strong, silent type? When you participate in a conversation, do the people sit and listen or do the people ignore you?

When communicating about projects, it is important that people understand with clarity what are you are, and of course, why you are saying something.

Each individual has different communication strengths and weaknesses. Project management deals with many different mechanisms to communicate what is happening at a given time. So considering communication strategies for effective project management, you have to either build on your own strengths or overcome weaknesses in this area. One of the challenges in communicating information about projects and project status is determining what information is relevant for the particular group you are dealing with.

The easiest way to understand this and take the appropriate action is to do the following:

 Identify the audience.

 Craft the message.

 Determine the action to take as a result.

 Use the most effective means to deliver the message and then over communicate.

Using these steps can avoid misinformation in general project management. Taking these four steps ensures that the information is accurate and that the recipients are clear on the appropriate action to take.